mitt romney and paul ryan are good men, good leaders. i want to wish mitt and paul and janna and their families well. the american people have spoken. they have re-elected president obama and they have again re-elected a republican majority in the house of representatives. there is a mandate in yesterday's results, it is a mandate for us to find a way to work together on the solutions to the challenges that we all face as a nation. and my message today is not one of confrontation, but one of conviction. and in the week and months ahead we face a series of tremendous challenges and great opportunity. just weeks away from now looms the so-called fiscal cliff, combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases, mandated by law. within months of the fiscal cliff, congress will be asked to raise the nation's debt ceiling. around the same time, legislation will be needed to keep the government running as a continuing resolution underwhich we're currently operating expires. amid all of the short-term hurdles we face the greatest challenge